Brittney Griner Now In U.S. Custody Following Prisoner Swap Deal With Russia
U.S. basketball champion Brittney Griner has been released by Russia in a prisoner swap and is now in U.S. custody.
The Olympic gold medalist was arrested at Moscow Airport on February 17, after she was found to be in possession of two vape cartridges containing cannabis oil, which is a banned substance in Russia.
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She had been sentenced to nine years in a Russian penal colony.
Griner is reported to have been released in exchange for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.
CBS News broke the story about the prisoner swap at about 5 AM PT/8 AM ET. Margaret Brennan, chief foreign affairs correspondent and moderator of Face the Nation, wrote on Twitter, that CBS News “learned last Thursday that the Griner-for-Bout swap was underway but agreed to a White House request not to report it because officials expressed grave concern about the fragility of the emerging deal & the safety of the Americans.”
President Joe Biden posted a Tweet showing him in the presence of Griner’s wife Cherelle Griner, with a message saying they had spoken to the athlete and that she was safe and on her way home.
The pair then held a brief news conference at the White House.
Cherelle Griner thanked U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and political advisor Jake Sullivan for their efforts in getting her wife freed.
Griner’s release has stoked controversy, however, due to the fact that another U.S. citizen, corporate security exec Paul Whelan remains in jail in Russia, where he is serving a 16-year term on spying changes.
Cherelle Griner alluded to the case at the news conference.
“Today, my family is whole but as you all are aware, there are so many other families who are not whole and so BJ is not here to say this, but I will flatly speak on her behalf and say that BG and I will remain committed to the work of getting every American home including Paul, whose family is in our hearts today as we celebrate BJ coming home,” she said.
“We do understand that there are still people out there who are enduring what I endured for the last nine months, of missing tremendously their loved one.”
Ted Johnson contributed to this report.
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